


Dejarik

by deluxekyluxtrashcan (rhoen)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: ? - Freeform, Domestic, M/M, Maybe - Freeform, Phasma and her shit-eating grin are mentioned, The tags added 'Freeform' wtf I didn't do that go away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-03
Updated: 2016-02-03
Packaged: 2018-05-17 22:49:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5888281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhoen/pseuds/deluxekyluxtrashcan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ren is convinced that Phasma cheats at dejarik, when, really, he's just a bad player and can't admit it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dejarik

**Author's Note:**

> These two make the effort around each other. In subtle ways. They're totally banging.
> 
> I was supposeeeed to write some drabbles. But I'm incapable of doing anything I'm supposed to, so this happened, and now I must sleep. Again. This is (obviously) un-beta'd. There will probably be mistakes: I just mashed this junk out in a oner, and am too tired to be any good at noticing mistakes.
> 
> > **Do not translate or repost this fic without my permission.**. Ask if you'd like to translate it. Linking to it with a short snipped it okay though!

It’s easy to tell what kind of a mood Kylo Ren is in. The man likes to think the mask hides his emotions, but it doesn’t really - and especially not when Ren is telegraphing anger with enough force to make even a rathtar think twice about approaching him. General Hux looks up from his holopad, an eyebrow raising at the whirlwind of frustration that has just blown into his study. He’ll no doubt learn within a few minutes what the issue is, but for several seconds Ren stomps around the room, clearly seething, and looking as if he’ll pull his lightsaber out at any moment and destroy anything within range.

Hux knows he won’t do that. Ren can’t. Around anyone else he might not have that restraint, but there’s something strong and definitive between the two of them, and it keeps Ren in check. Hux simply has to wait until his unusual companion can articulate what is is that’s vexing him. Ren eventually unfastens his mask, and flings it across the room; it crashes rather harmlessly against the bottom of the doorframe.

“She cheats!” Ren fumes, turning to Hux with an exasperated gesture. His pale face is a little more coloured than usual, no doubt as a result of Ren’s high emotions. Hux didn’t need to ask who Ren was fuming about. “Every fucki- every goddamn time!”

If he’d known Ren was going to play Phasma at dejarik, Hux would have made sure to clear the rest of his evening. It invariably went this way. He’d watched them play once, both impressed and terrified, as Phasma had bested Ren round after round, the Knight growing more and more incensed with each loss. Phasma had looked far too smug, a smirk on her face each time she manipulated Ren into the position she wanted him. It had given Hux a new level of respect for her: the woman clearly knew she was infuriating her superior, but simply didn’t care. She’s worn a shit-eating grin as she claimed the fifth victory, and Ren had torn the table from its anchorage in frustration.

If Hux hadn’t been there, he was sure Ren would have played all night, determined to best Phasma. Which wasn’t going to happen. Still, Ren kept trying. Whenever he could, he’d talk Phasma into a game, as if repeatedly banging his head against a wall would improve his situation. It never did. Games with Phasma always ended with Ren here, in Hux’s quarters, stomping back and forth and spitting profanities.

“Perhaps it would be wise to concede defeat and avoid any further games,” Hux said, his voice as impassive as ever, despite his amusement and interest at the ball of emotions still pacing in front of him. His suggestion won his a fierce snarl.

“Not until I’ve beaten her!” Ren snaps.

Hux lowers his holopad, evaluating the problem confronting him. No, Ren certainly won’t give up until he’s bested Phasma, but he’s clearly not skilled enough - no matter what he thinks or says about his abilities - to do it on his own.

“And if you never beat her?”

“I will.”  
Ren’s fierce determination is predictable.

“Do you even know the rules?” Hux asks quite calmly.

“Of course I know the fucking rules!” Ren shouts, clearly aggravated at the insinuation. Hux doesn’t react. There’s no point. Calmly, he leans back in his chair.

“And how many other people have you played? Aside from Captain Phasma?”

“Loads,” comes the immediate answer. Then, after a pause: “Some. A few. Okay, three!”

Hux is almost unsuccessful at holding back a smile. Ren’s inexperience showed when Hux saw him play.

“And who were those three?”

“Sentimental fools,” Ren snaps, still as riled as ever. Hux decodes the phrase, knowing it means ‘family’, but also understanding that Ren will never admit to ever having had such attachments. “And a guy in a bar. Once.”

“I take it that game didn’t end well?”

Ren is silent for a moment, fuming. His words come out rather sulkily. “He cheated.”

Hux bites back a condescending ‘of course he did’ which he knows would sounded patronising if he voiced it. He sits silently for a moment, before leaning forward, his tone and expression serious.

“Would you play me?”

Ren snorts, as if the idea is beneath him.

“You?”

“What? Is the idea preposterous? You know I excel at strategem. My tutelage could offer you an edge over Captain Phasma, whose tactics I am more than familiar with.”

“I don’t need your help,” Ren bites, but he’s lost a lot of his earlier venom. He’s caught between his desperation to best Phasma and his distaste for accepting help from Hux. Hux simply needs to wait for the inevitable to win.

“Fine,” Ren eventually huffs. He seems to deflate, his eyes looking everywhere but at Hux. “But don’t you dare tell anyone.”

“Like who?” Hux asks, allowing himself to sound surprised that Ren would think he’d do that. Some things Hux values: his personhood intact, for one, but also Ren’s growing trust in him. He’s not adverse to the growing… whatever it is between them.

“I would advise against letting Captain Phasma know of this,” Hux continues. “Lest she expect a more challenging match next time.”

“You’ve played dejarik with her before?”

“I have,” Hux confirms, giving a small smile at Ren’s surprise. “What did you expect? We both enjoy challenges which require forethought and consideration, and dejarik is a game of manipulation and strategy: of course we play against each other.”

Ren seems to have exhausted his anger, and simply stands there, watching Hux.

“You won’t cheat?” he finally asks.

“I have no idea what you consider cheating. I shall use every allowable move at my disposal to win, but I shall also teach you those moves, and how to plan ahead, not simply barge through the game hot-headedly.”

The last remark has the potential to irk Ren, but he simply nods.

“Fine.”

“Shall we start now?”

“You… you have a board?”

“And several others besides. Come.”

Hux leads the way into what passes as a lounge. There are three functional but comfortable chairs set around a low table, but Hux goes to the storage unit in the corner of the room, removing a somewhat heavy, old dejarik board. As he deposits it on the table, it flickers to life, the holos exactly where they were after the last game. Hux resets it as he settles opposite Ren.

“I think we should play one game, to gauge each other, and then we can focus on technique and strategy.”

Ren, who is staring at the board as if it hold the secrets to galactic domination, nods in assent. “Okay.”

“You’re the knight; you play first,” Hux decides. Ren’s gaze flickers up, intense with the challenge he’s set himself. The first move is rather predictable, but Hux doesn’t react.

“Your move, General,” Ren taunts. Hux openly smirks as he makes his first move, already planning ten steps ahead.

He just hopes that when he wins Ren remembers he’s offered to help him, not humiliate him.

-

Two months later, Hux just so happens to be around when Phasma calls out to Ren, who she taunts with being afraid of a game and having avoided her. Giving nothing away, Hux watches the exchange, wondering what it means when he realises he’s definitely on Ren’s side. Ren answers the challenge, as incensed as ever by the insinuations, but Hux knows that this time Ren stands a chance. He’s pretty sure Ren will win.

So when Phasma casually invites him along to witness Ren’s humiliation, Hux pretends to consider for a moment, and then agrees. Ren storms off, as if nettled, but there’s something subtle in his demeanour that those who do not know him as well as Hux does will miss: he’s eager for the encounter, rather than aggravated by inevitable defeat.

And, later that evening when Ren bests an astounded Phasma for the fifth time in a row, using a combination of what Hux taught him and his own rather blunt technique, Hux feels something he slowly realises is pride.

It’s not a bad feeling.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, at one point Kylo bit back a mostly-said expletive, because [insert whatever smutty discipline idea you like here].


End file.
